Why 2021 is a Big Year for Nature
2020… for many of us it was the year that never was. But did you know 2020 was supposed to be the “SUPER YEAR for biodiversity”? When COVID flipped our lives upside down, it also threw a massive wrench into the global nature agenda and now 2021 has absorbed a number of those important events and negotiations, making it a potential game changer for nature.
United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA)
UNEA is the governing body of UN Environment, it is made up of 193 countries (Member States) and meets every two years. This year the meeting was held virtually on 22-23 February 2021 under the themes of “Strengthening Actions for Nature to Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.” What was particularly notable about this UNEA is that UN Environment obtained approval for its Medium Term Strategy for 2022-2025 which is built on three key pillars:
Climate Change
Resilience to Disasters and Conflicts
Healthy and Productive Ecosystems
Environmental Governance
Chemicals, Waste and Air Quality
Resource Efficiency
Environment under Review
This is a slightly expanded priority list from their Making Peace with Nature synthesis which focuses on climate change, biodiversity and pollution.
“more than ever that human health and wellbeing are dependent upon nature and the solutions it provides, and we are aware that we shall face recurring risks of future pandemics if we maintain our current unsustainable patterns in our interactions with nature.” - quote from UNEA 5
COP15 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
The 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has three objectives:
the conservation of biological diversity;
the sustainable use of its components;
and, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of genetic resources. (ENB)
Unlike the climate COPs that happen every year, the CBD COPs happen every two years. 2020 was expected to be the equivalent to the Climate COP21 in Paris but for nature, as in there was expectation of a sweeping global agreement.
Another reason there was a lot of anticipation around 2020 was because the Aichi Targets were expiring. These were 20 biodiversity-related targets that were set in 2010 and came into effect for the period of 2011-2020. These targets are referenced in the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs and the international community was expecting the 2020 CBD COP to replace these targets with a new updated framework. China had taken a diplomatic leadership role on advancing the agenda but of course had to delay the meeting because of COVID 19. The COP is currently set to take place in Kunming, China, 11 - 24 October 2021.
COP26 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)
As I discussed in my video about the US rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, COP26 that was supposed to take place in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021 is an extremely important event for the future of the agreement because there will be three major items covered:
Ambition mechanism - 5 years after the Agreement was signed, it was understood that countries would submit more ambitious climate plans (nationally determined contributions or NDCs). COP26 is where these new commitments will be reviewed
Article 6 - a number of important issues around the operations of the agreement were set to be discussed, namely, carbon markets and funding loss and damage.
Climate Finance - the issue of climate financing and the Green Climate Fund will also be readdressed at COP26.
This is arguably the most important meeting for climate since COP21 in Paris where the agreement was signed. The meeting has been rescheduled to take place November 1-12, 2021 in Glasgow, under the leadership of the United Kingdom.
Events Related to the Food-Water-Energy Nexus
Interestingly, there are also three more events taking place in 2021 that can have a big impact on nature. The Food-Water-Energy nexus looks at the systemic relationship between these three crucially important topics. It’s quite an in-depth topic that I will go into another time but here is a quick diagram that gives you an overview:
I found it interesting that this year there are three events that directly relate to the Food-Water-Energy Nexus:
Food Systems Summit taking place in Fall 2021
High Level Dialogue on Energy taking place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2021
High-Level Meeting on Water, which focused on the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda and just took place on March 18.
Keep Learning
Here are a few great resources for further reading and learning:
Convention on Biological Diversity (Earth Negotiations Bulletin, 2021)
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (ENB, 2021)
UNEA Outcomes (UNEP, 2021)
What You Need to Know About Article 6 of the Paris Agreement (WRI, 2019)
How to Support?
With every video, I provide links to related organizations that you may or may not choose to support with your pocketbook.
Global Witness - Donate
WWF International (also exists in most countries) - Donate
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) - Donate
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) - Donate